Page 63 of Collin: Episodes 7-9
Ash frowned. “Then why did the government hire Tom Clancy?”
Mr. Moreau was due to attend dinner at his university that night for an event. There were speakers, and a scholarship was going to be handed out. Mr. Reevesworth had already been promised months before as his plus one, so Damian and Collin were alone. They still had security at the door, and Damian suggested an evening of Ticket to Ride, a board game. They ordered pizza and sat at the coffee table together. Damian knew how to play because Matthew’s wife had taught him and Matthew. He volunteered to teach Collin as they played.
“When will I meet Matthew?” Collin asked, shuffling cards.
Damian rubbed his face, still looking at his unfinished tickets and checking the board for routes. “Maybe in a week or two? They come over for dinner at least every other month, or we all go out. I run with him on the weekends, but you couldn’t keep up yet. He’s really fast.”
“Faster than you?”
“Oh yeah. The man’s all leg.”
Collin set down the reshuffled cards and took two off the top of the deck. “Should we be worried we haven’t heard anything about the lawsuit all day?”
“No.” Damian picked up cards. “The judge will probably deliberate until Friday.”
Thursday morning, Collin didn’t have time to be nervous about seeing his mother because he was too worried about packing and saying goodbye to Mr. Moreau and Damian. Mr. Moreau was getting ready to leave for Kyoto to see Ami, and Collin and Mr. Reevesworth were due in the office for meetings and Mandarin. Mr. Moreau handed Collin the final version of his suitcase and kissed him thoroughly at the door, and then he was gone. Damian hugged Collin and embraced Mr. Reevesworth, and then he also exited The Residency, heading for his law firm. There was nothing left for Collin to do but put on his shoes and follow his master out to the elevator.
“How are your eyes this morning?”
Collin blinked. He’d forgotten about them. “Um…slightly sore but not bad, sir. I have the eyedrops, and I used them already.”
Mr. Reevesworth took out his phone, opening his clock app. “When’s the next time you’re supposed to use them?”
Collin blushed. Do not be cuddling your Master in public!
Flying a private charter flight was different than flying commercial. Collin kept his glasses on and his head down and just followed his dom through the process, all the way up the stairs and onto the plane. They weren’t the only ones on the flight. There were actually a dozen other people on the plane. Mr. Reevesworth seemed to know them and went around shaking hands. He introduced Collin to a few. A couple asked him how he was doing and if his eyes were okay. Collin recognized Austin and Keera from the natural history museum. Mr. Reevesworth made their excuses to rest, and then they retired to seats off by themselves.
“I try to offer the extra seats to people when I fly charter,” Mr. Reevesworth explained as they settled. “Austin wanted to show Keera some of the digs in California, and everyone else is from Linda’s office. They have a hiking club.”
“So, they just all grabbed their stuff and went?”
Mr. Reevesworth smiled and shrugged. “Flight was free. And they’re camping anyway. They’ll fly back with us, and Linda will write it off as a team-building activity and cover part of the expense of the flight.”
Collin giggled. “I imagine it’s actually effective.”
“Oh, yes.” Mr. Reevesworth grinned. “We try to group people together by shared interest but keep them all integrated enough that the departments work well together. I think one of the weirdest human resource requests we got once was “Wanted, hobbit, who can actually make coffee.”
“Did you find them a hobbit?”
“Linda offered to pay half the price of their tickets to the next ren faire and told them to hire someone themselves. The woman they hired couldn’t do accounting, but she could make coffee. Four years later, she’s one of our best forensic accountants we have.”
“You hired her for a job she couldn’t do?”
“No, the head of the department hired her to make coffee. And dared her to learn accounting.”
“What did she do before that?”
“Stay-at-home mom, recently divorced, former barista.” Mr. Reevesworth grinned. “One might say it was personal. How are you doing? We haven’t really talked about what will happen during the visit.”
“The observance will be Friday night after dark and after the trick-or-treaters are quiet. It’s usually just Mom, Alice, and me.” Collin shrugged. “I mean, I’m not sure what there is to talk about. It’s just a trip home.” Collin leaned back in his seat. “It’ll be fine. Mom will fuss, but she’s usually pretty busy. She said we can both stay at the house. But…it’s not really up to your standards.”
“I’m staying wherever you are, pet. We have a room reserved nearby, but we don’t have to use it.”
The house looked worse than he remembered. Collin rubbed the back of his head as he climbed out of the rental car and looked up at the porch and the siding. On a quiet street surrounded by other old homes, it wasn’t the only one badly in need of a paint job, but it was certainly in the minority. The homes on either side had been completely updated in the last ten years. Dr. Ryker, however, hadn’t even been able to get to trimming the front bushes since Collin had done it early that summer. He’d need to find the pruners and hope they were sharp enough.
“Home sweet home.” Collin shot his dom a wry smile and pushed open the chain-link gate. Was it just him, or did everything seem a little more worn, a little dingier than he remembered? Or was it just that long since he’d been back?
One of the boards on the front steps had caved in. Collin stifled a sigh and stepped around the hole. Honestly, the entire front porch needed replacing. His parents had bought the house hoping to update it. They just had never gotten around to actually doing the update. Not before his dad disappeared. And then…
